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When a Tree Falls
Otilia Mancuso is a self-professed Xanax poster girl who works, sleeps, breathes, loves and bribes in Hudson County. She has lived in a high rise next to the Holland Tunnel ever since she was elected to the Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders. Her sudden and unexpected election--to a seat vacated by the untimely death of her predecessor in a sleazy motel--made her the first woman to be elected legislator at the county level.
But now, all Otilia wants is to click her heels together and disappear from the mess she's in. Faced with the threat of serving hard time for her part in an illicit love affair, Otilia finds herself charged with four counts of aiding and abetting extortion and three counts of mail fraud. How could delivering an envelope full of money for her lover--a psychiatrist providing millions of dollars worth of services to county facilities--to the county executive be considered bribery?
Cuban-American writer Beatriz Rivera serves up another offbeat love story full of oddball characters in absurd Dr. Chico Chanca, a clog-wearing, tea-drinking psychiatrist who is obsessed with yoga, financial success, and cheap-motel sex; his gorgeous wife Laura, a passionate animal rights advocate and brilliant veterinarian who has a predilection for expensive designer clothing, organic food, and breast implants; and Amber Delrio, the owner of Sacred Greens Farm and a yoga school who has taken an eternal vow of chastity.
Loosely based on the machinations of New Jersey politicians, the off-the-wall antics of Rivera's eccentric characters are sure to entertain and amuse.
But now, all Otilia wants is to click her heels together and disappear from the mess she's in. Faced with the threat of serving hard time for her part in an illicit love affair, Otilia finds herself charged with four counts of aiding and abetting extortion and three counts of mail fraud. How could delivering an envelope full of money for her lover--a psychiatrist providing millions of dollars worth of services to county facilities--to the county executive be considered bribery?
Cuban-American writer Beatriz Rivera serves up another offbeat love story full of oddball characters in absurd Dr. Chico Chanca, a clog-wearing, tea-drinking psychiatrist who is obsessed with yoga, financial success, and cheap-motel sex; his gorgeous wife Laura, a passionate animal rights advocate and brilliant veterinarian who has a predilection for expensive designer clothing, organic food, and breast implants; and Amber Delrio, the owner of Sacred Greens Farm and a yoga school who has taken an eternal vow of chastity.
Loosely based on the machinations of New Jersey politicians, the off-the-wall antics of Rivera's eccentric characters are sure to entertain and amuse.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
7 people want to read
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February 23, 2010Beatriz Rivera's,When a Tree Falls, is a madcap love story involving New Jersey government officials caught up in entrapment, corruption, and extortion.
Praise for the work of Beatriz Rivera:
"Recurring characters, family relationships, and the Jersey City Hispanic barrio connect the stories, as does Rivera's delicious sense of humor."
—Library Journal on African Passions and Other Stories
"A large cast of endearingly self-absorbed characters struggle along in Rivera's sure-handed comedy as private fantasy, public aspiration and hard reality collide."
—Publishers Weekly on Midnight Sandwiches at the Mariposa Express
"An inventive, provocative oddity, this is a tantalizing work that draws readers into an engrossing twilight world."
—Publishers Weekly on Playing with Light
Praise for the work of Beatriz Rivera:
"Recurring characters, family relationships, and the Jersey City Hispanic barrio connect the stories, as does Rivera's delicious sense of humor."
—Library Journal on African Passions and Other Stories
"A large cast of endearingly self-absorbed characters struggle along in Rivera's sure-handed comedy as private fantasy, public aspiration and hard reality collide."
—Publishers Weekly on Midnight Sandwiches at the Mariposa Express
"An inventive, provocative oddity, this is a tantalizing work that draws readers into an engrossing twilight world."
—Publishers Weekly on Playing with Light
August 13, 2011
I liked this book for its characters, who are greedy and self-absorbed, and just human enough to hate. It's like if every soap-opera villain came together in one show, and you watched it with your sarcastic best friend. Or maybe like watching The Real Housewives, except you can still hope that these characters don't actually exist.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews